LOCAL CHARACTERS – ISH AND JOSH
MRS D. RICHARDS
We were quite a forgotten area as far as the Waimairi Council was concerned.
Even the building and other inspectors rode bicycles out very rarely. So with the
Depression of the late 1920s and 30s almost any kind of building could be put
together, without permission. No-one seemed interested in Spencerville,
Brooklands, Kainga or Stewarts Gully. We were out in the wop-wops so not of
much concern. Because of no proper supervision many strange baches were
erected. With cheap rents in these areas, quite a lot of pensioners and no hopers
arrived. A railway carriage was on the corner of Harbour Rd and Seafield Ave
(now Lower Styx Rd) where the Fire Brigade is now situated. Two old pensioners
lived in the converted carriage for quite a few years.
Down by the river were still some huts. One fisherman's hut was used by an old
man whose name was "Ish". He used to tell us it was a Bible name short for
Ishmael. When the bridge was opened and the grocer from Ouruhia called twice
weekly with our mail and groceries, Ish would walk around to our place and wait
for him. He was quite a character. When the children saw him coming they would
say "Make Ish a cup of tea". They liked the funny way he talked. The tea making
ritual was always the same. I would ask him if he took milk and sugar and his
reply always amused the kids. He would say "No missus, I don't take milk and
sugar, I usually 'ave it give to me". When he was ready to go home he would say
"Where's my this and that (hat) because I have to go home down the old frog and
toad (road) while the currant bun (sun) is still shining. He would talk about his old
china plates (mates) and said when he went to town he couldn't get up the apple
and pears (stairs) any more.
He didn't arrive one day so I went to see him. He was in bed but had been up to
make a cup of tea and had collapsed. I rode my bike to the only phone in
Brooklands at Mr Cameron's and rang the doctor who came and then rang the
ambulance when he got back to Kaiapoi. I stayed with Ish till the ambulance
arrived then left them to get Ish out of his bach, along the stopbank and across
the paddock. The ambulance drove into the paddock as far as it could go. A
while later the driver arrived to tell me they were stuck in the paddock. It would
take a tractor to pull it out, so I went to the nearest farmer who readily went to the
rescue. Ron Dixey the ambulance driver told me when he explained the situation
to Ish, Ish replied "Go and get Mrs Sullivan, she'll pull us out". I was a strong
young woman those days, but not that strong.
Every Saturday the Kainga Nursing Division which included Brooklands members
would take turns to volunteer work on the ambulances. We got to know the
drivers well during those war years. Ron Dixey never forgot what Ish had said
about me. I'm sure he dined out on that story. Ish never returned. He died of
pneumonia, and no wonder. When I went to see him I saw daylight through the
cracks around the walls of his hut, which was right on the river edge and so
damp.
Life was only an existence during the Depression and after till the Labour Party
got in 1935. The pension was increased and paid out monthly. Food banks and
charities were so essential to keep body and soul together. The Chch hospital
board had a member who ran the department which fed, clothed and gave
financial support to the destitute. Mrs Teresa Green was in charge and had to
see that the real poor were helped. There were bludgers those days too.
It was conditions caused by the Depression which drove people out to cheap
rental. Most seaside places had baches, tents, garages and even old trams and
railway carriages to live in. Some strange old buildings were brought out and
erected in Brooklands. A very old house from Sydenham was put up nearly
opposite our place. It consisted of one room, sunporch and a kitchen. At one end
of the kitchen was a large fireplace where all the cooking was done. No electricity
was connected for several years.
The family who brought this bach out for their father could not put up with his
alcoholism. The section was bought for 25 pounds. Soon after Josh was
installed, he brought an old alcoholic friend to stay with him. Arthur and he
shared expenses. They caught rainwater in a large drum for washing up etc.
They got good water from the artesian well nearby. Candles were the only source
of lighting for most of these people in baches. A block of wood and four nails held
the candles. It was so dangerous that I gave the old chaps proper enamel candle
sticks.
It was hard enough to make the pension last four weeks for frugal pensioners,
but was so bad for alcoholics. When pension day came they used to arrive home
"gloriously" drunk. The Belfast publican used to bring them home with their
supply of grog, which would last about a week. On the way home they would call
in and pay the grocer what they owed. By the third week they were sober and
hungry. It was alright for Josh, he could go to his daughter's till pension day. For
Arthur it was harder. He used to cut hair for a shilling. He worked as a barber for
over 40 years. The fourth week was the worst for him. He would come and ask
me for any butts and tea leaves. He would boil up the tea leaves which I kept for
him. Then I would hear some wood being chopped and he would be chopping
wood for me. He knew he would get afternoon tea and a big evening meal.
If he had a few shillings he would walk to Kaiapoi to the hardware shop and buy
methylated spirits. It was about the late 1930s that a purple mixture was added to
meths because so many used it as a cheap way to get drunk. The purple mixture
was supposed to be such a nasty taste that no-one would drink it, but it didn't
deter the hardened alcoholics. The two of them lived in these conditions for about
ten years. Finally the building inspectors caught up with them and they were put
in a home for old men in Ashburton, while the bach was condemned and pulled
down.
This enabled a young man to use some of it to build a bach. He also used
material from the dump and anything he could scrounge from neighbouring
farmers and friends. He had no permits at first but had to do some alterations
later. When he finished he decided to have water laid on. How to get the water to
his sink in the kitchen from the drum on the roof was really no problem to him. He
got his rifle and shot a hole through the ceiling to the roof and brought the pipe
down to the sink. He was so proud of his place that he painted a sign outside his
place which read "MINE ALL MINE".